Overall Member Rating

Relaxing Time Aboard NCL Star

We are a middle aged couple who enjoy spending time together. We drove to Tampa from Virginia. Stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Rocky Point before the Cruise.
Due to my booking thru American Express to use my points, I was not able to get included on their park and cruise plan. However, Ron at the desk worked it so we could park there and set us up with port transfers thru Blue One. (20.00 pp)It worked out perfect.

EMBARKATION
No problems here, Arrived about 11:30 and was on board by noon.

STATEROOM
We booked an inside room on deck 10. As expected, the room was ample size for two and was pleasantly surprised at the size of the shower. Much better than the Sun.

DINING
We at at the Aqua four nights, basically because we developed a relationship with our waitress Lucy from the Philippines. She was very personable and attended to all our needs. I understand there was a large group on board who had some sort of priority seating over normal More
passengers. Due to this, they were passing out buzzers and the wait was about 20 min to get in at dinner only. We solved this issue by my going to get the buzzer 20 min. before the wife was ready to go.

Breakfasts and Lunches in the Aqua were never an issue. We thought the food quality was more than ample. Their Caesar Salad was delicious.

We ate and the Teppanyaki one night. It was good but not great.
Had dinner at La Cuchina. Thoroughly enjoyed that meal. Our waiter was from Goa in India and seemed pleased and attentive when we talked about his home.
The last cruise night we saved for Le Bistro.As with other NCL cruises, The food here was excellent. Scallops and escargot for appetizer, Salmon and Filet Mignon but we both agreed that the mushroom soup was the meal's highlight.

PORTS
Roatan :
It was on and off raining while were there. We elected to walk downtown and were escorted by two native children who were still out of school on Christmas break. They were cordial and pointed out their school and other highlights. Shopped at a local craft shop for souvenirs. Headed back to ship, started raining and got soaked. Tipped our "tourguides" and got back onboard.
Belize :
Tendered in and did some shopping at port.Walked through what appeared to be an old fort. Returned to shopping district parched and sat at a little bar and enjoyed a Belizean beer. Caught tender and returned to ship.
Costa Maya :
We had booked a day at the beach here with Costamayatours.com at the PEZ Quadro beach club. For 35.00 pp we were assured two beach chairs, a thatched umbrella,and open bar services on the beach all day. This was nice and relaxing. The wife got a 45 min massage on the beach for 20.00 from Nancy, a local professional. Taxi ride to resort was 4.00 each way. All in all an enjoyable day in the sun.
Cozumel:
We took a ship tour to the Mayan ruins of Tulum. Despite the fact that our camera battery died after six photos, we had a great time on this tour. Our tour guide on the bus Raul was of Mayan descent and was very interesting.
Cruise staff
We were delighted after boarding to see that Pedro Serra was our cruise director. We were on the SUN with him last year. His staff was very entertaining. We got great service from all but had a few exceptional people Lucy and Ana, a bar waiter in the theatre at night.

Entertainment:
We visited the shows nightly and enjoyed all. Shout was enjoyable, We love 60's music and especially enjoyed the Petula Clark renditions. Also enjoyed the Elements show. These are some talented young people performing and should not be compared to Broadway or Hollywood stars.
Disembarkation:
No problems here, we were able to do the self walk off. Passed thru customs and after 25 minute wait were carried back to our hotel by Blue One and were back on the road by 11:00 am.
Summary:
We had a great time this week , but was not without some downfalls. The main downfall is some of the complaining passengers. Most are Florida "snowbirds" who are never satisfied with anything. The women are three time as bad as their men.
I can rest in the fact that these chronic complainers are doomed to exist in their own private hell.
That being the only downfall, If you can ignore that, for the money it cost us, this is a value that can't be beat. Less